


Flying Too Close to the Sun

by MissJanjie, multifandomgeek



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Hogwarts AU, Lesbian AU, Quidditch
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-20 08:53:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19989424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissJanjie/pseuds/MissJanjie, https://archiveofourown.org/users/multifandomgeek/pseuds/multifandomgeek
Summary: Quidditch is very important to Brooke. As the captain of the Slytherin team, she’s going to do everything to make her house proud, and the only thing standing in her way is the incredibly annoying Gryffindor captain.When Vanessa began her studies at Hogwarts she had one goal in mind - to become a Quidditch icon. The sport is unequivocally the biggest source of her energy and passion, and she will stop at nothing to be the best. There was just one pesky thorn in her side that came in the form of the Slytherin captain.





	Flying Too Close to the Sun

**Author's Note:**

> Once upon a time, there was a train in Britain. It didn’t go to Hogwarts, but it had two drag queens in it and one phone with an internet connection that would come to drive us all crazy several times. In one instance, Brooke said “I’m a Slytherin” and affirmed that Vanessa was too. The fandom went mad. Meanwhile, Multi turned to Joley and asked, “hey, wanna write a Hogwarts AU?”, so this was born. 
> 
> We’re winging it, bear with us.

When you’re born a witch, going to Hogwarts is just something you know is going to happen in your life. You eat, sleep, grow up, and when you’re old enough, you get to go to school in this place far away from home, where you’ll learn everything you need to know about the magic you were born with, so you can be a useful citizen. For Brooke, it was never a question of being nervous or excited about it, it was just how it was supposed to be.

But, as she stepped inside the castle for the first time, looking around with wide eyes, impressed by the sheer size of the walls around her, she couldn’t help but feel small. She was told so many times about this place, by so many people in so many ways, that it never felt special at all.

At least, not until now. Not until she was looking at its imposing silhouette against the moonlight, then walking up its worn stairs and wondering where they were repaired after the war, where the witches and wizards fought and fell. She had just stepped inside the stone walls and saw the biggest staircase she had ever seen - though she barely had time to glance at the statues and portraits before she was being ushered inside the Great Hall, walking by the long tables with the colors of the four infamous houses until she was halted with the small group of children waiting to be selected into one of them.

 _We’re so small,_ she thought as she glanced at the other students, _everyone else looks so grown up._

For once, she wished she knew someone, had a friend to hold her hand or give her a smile, a brother waiting for her at one of the tables. She thought about her brother. She had been thinking about him since she started getting dressed for the trip, really, but she pushed the thoughts away like she had been doing all day. Instead, she looked to the kids around her, appearing just as terrified as she was feeling. There was a scrawny looking girl with voluptuous brown hair just by her side, but she was too busy trying to contain her own excitement to pay attention to Brooke and offer any sympathetic gestures.

Names were being called, but she was only barely paying attention. She looked up at the enchanted ceiling showing the night sky, wondering if she could even expect anything about the selection, if it was set in stone with the legacy of her family. Wondering if she could choose to not be a part of it, and what would happen if she did.

“Brooke Lynn Hytes,” called the teacher before she could decide. It was all very quick, the hat whispering inside her mind then sorting her into Slytherin, then the cheer that came from the students. Suddenly, she was sat down and being asked questions, receiving congratulations, having people telling her useful tips to navigate her student life that she would forget in seconds, and being introduced to way too many people to possibly be able to learn all of their names.

The only person she really registered on her first day, she would meet in the dormitory. Brooke was so glad to see her cat and to get her hair down from the tight ponytail she had on since morning that she barely noticed the other girls getting in their own beds with their own pets, except for one.

“Cute cat,” said the girl, settling herself on the bed beside Brooke’s.

“His name is Henry,” she said proudly.

“My mom made me bring a frog, what the hell am I supposed to do with a frog?” responded the girl, lifting the cage from under her bed to show Brooke a big, angry-looking bullfrog. Brooke shrugged and the girl put the cage down again, shaking her head. “If it was a chocolate frog, at least, now that would make sense,” she said, giggling, taking a packet of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans from her bedside table and taking a handful. “Want one?”

“No thanks, I’m still full from dinner,” said Brooke, honestly not knowing how this girl was still able to eat after such a feast, even if she was very big. She wondered if it would be rude to lay down under her covers and say goodnight. She was so tired.

“What’s your name? I’m Silky.”

“Brooke Lynn. Or just Brooke.”

Silky smiled. “Alright, ‘just Brooke,’” she joked, making Brooke roll her eyes, even if she smiled too. “Imma catch my beauty sleep, see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, Silky,” responded Brooke, settling in for the night with a smile in the corner of her mouth.

\--

The first year proved to be way harder than Brooke thought. Even if she was a very good student, with good background and impeccable discipline, classes were hard and the professors were very demanding. It didn’t help that some classes seem to require not only study but talent. Brooke hated every time someone could do something better and faster than her just because it happened to be easier for them. It was an aspect of magic she just couldn’t get her head around.

Silky quickly became her best friend, her casual approach to life balancing very well with Brooke’s perfectionism. She also made Brooke laugh a lot, and that was something the blonde appreciated with all her heart. Sometimes, she couldn’t fathom why Silky was her friend, a concern she shared with her once only to receive the response “bitch, shut the fuck up and pass me the pumpkin juice”. So, she didn’t ask anymore, just counted herself lucky.

The one place Brooke found refuge in school was flying lessons. She had always loved Quidditch, her memories of going to matches with her father and brother the best ones of her childhood. She loved how people united around it, how it made strangers cry together and laugh together and dance together. She loved the excitement of watching a match, to cheer your favorite team on, to know when something amazing was about to happen or even to be completely surprised. She loved everything about it, and even if she didn’t get to really play yet, just the feeling of being on a broom was enough to fill her body with a kind of adrenaline and energy she knew she could become addicted to.

“Did you hear a first-year girl tried for the Gryffindor team?” said Silky one day when they were walking to class. She didn’t like Quidditch like Brooke, but her love for gossip was arguably even bigger.

“Really? Is she like a prodigy or something?” asked Brooke. At that point, they weren’t flying for more than two months.

“Nope, just plain stupid,” laughed Silky.

Brooke scoffed. “How egotistical. She should be focusing on learning the skills properly like the rest of us instead of trying to drag her team down by being too cocky.” That’s what Brooke was doing. She was learning, studying and practicing so she would be the best asset for her house in next year’s trials. She wasn’t good enough yet.

By the time their first year ended, Brooke had a goal in mind. She spent all summer extracting every knut she could from every relative possible with chores and small favors so she could buy herself a nice-enough broom. Her father eventually took pity on her and added to the money she saved so she could buy a second-hand nimbus from one of his work friends. Then, she started training, practicing every move she could try, every routine in the books. She even lost some weight, making her mother worry and almost call the whole thing off until Brooke agreed to reduce the hours she spent doing it.

When Brooke’s second year in Hogwarts began, she enrolled herself in the Quidditch Mentorship Program, one step before the actual trial for the team. Interested students from second-year forward could practice with a member of the team and refine their Quidditch skills before the actual trial. It was a better way to assess the commitment of potential team members, as well as have them improve their skills and better choose which position they wanted to play. It wasn’t mandatory, but it certainly improved your chances.

Brooke’s name was the first on the sheet pinned on the common room’s activity board. Her first training session with her assigned mentor would be on Saturday morning, and she couldn’t wait. She hoped it would be a rigorous person, committed to the rules like herself. Someone that wouldn’t be afraid of calling her out if she made a mistake, someone that wouldn’t see in her blonde hair, tender age and even gender a reason to go easy on her. Someone to push her boundaries and be serious and efficient about it.

When Saturday came around, Brooke tied her hair even tighter than she was used to before making her way to the field, her new broom in hand and an excited feeling in her stomach. She spotted a girl sitting on the grass by the shade in a sloppy position. She looked like a fourth-year, and there was no one else around.

“Hi, I’m Brooke,” she said, approaching the girl, who looked up at her, squinting against the light. “I’m here for the Quidditch mentorship?”

The girl swiftly stood up, smiling widely. “I’m the girl you’re looking for!” She swatted her butt to get rid of the dirt that stuck there from sitting on the ground and extended her hand for Brooke to shake. “Nice to meet you, I’m Katya.”

\---  
“No running!”

Screeching to a halt, Vanessa heeded the command and walked the rest of the way from the train into the expansive castle. No number of pictures or even the most detailed descriptions could have done it justice, she pointedly observed. As early as she could remember, her siblings had gushed about the magical marvel that was Hogwarts. The inside was straight out of the fairytales she was fed for bedtime stories and her eyes sparkled with enthusiasm – this was all she had been waiting for.

And Vanessa did not like waiting. It felt like she had spent her entire life waiting just to be here and the first thing she gets to do is wait with forced patience while everyone ahead of her gets their turn under the sorting hat. It had been at least twenty minutes and there was still easily a dozen first years ahead of her. So, she watched the sortings to pass time – observing which house seemed to be the most populated, how long each sorting took – anywhere from five seconds to three minutes – though when it reached that length it felt like an hour.

“Come on, come on, come on,” the way she bounced her leg so fervently caught the attention of the girl to one side of her, who turned to watch her with an amused grin.

“You know, they say patience is a virtue, but if I’m stuck here another minute, I’m gonna go crazy,” the girl laughed at her own comment, tucking a piece of short, chestnut-brown hair behind her ear. “What are you hoping to get?”

Vanessa blinked as she processed what the girl had said. “What sorta book you read that from?” she shrugged at the question. “Can’t say I care, long as that hat don’t tell me to get the hell out.”

This time, the girl let out a laugh that was downright goofy, leading Vanessa to cover her mouth as she giggled. “I doubt it can do that,” she assured. “I’m Yvie, by the way.”

“Vanessa.”

The subsequent small talk did make the time pass quicker and before she knew it, Vanessa watched Yvie get sorted into Gryffindor. _Huh, thought for sure that chick would be a Ravenclaw._ She shrugged – the hat knew best. It had to, or surely, it’d have been replaced by an equally powerful object. Either way, she beamed as the hat was placed onto her head and sorted her into Gryffindor as well. At least she knew someone going into it, deciding to sit with Yvie and watching the next student – a taller blonde girl – get sorted into Slytherin.

\--

“Look!” Vanessa huffed when she didn’t immediately get Yvie’s attention and yanked on her arm. “Look! They have quidditch try-outs today!” her pearly-white grin did little to phase the other girl, who was looking at her as if she had sprouted another head.

“Are you nuts? We still have flying lessons – we’re literally still covering the basics. Like, do you want your own bed in the infirmary? ‘Cause that’s how you get—and you’re not listening to me. Okay, cool. Your funeral, I’m gonna go take a nap.” And with that, she turned on her heel and left her to her own devices.

Vanessa had made it down to the pitch. Her goal was right there in reach. She got a running start and she was on her way and before she knew it, she was only a couple yards away, the wind hitting her face only preparing her for what she would feel up in the air and—

“Absolutely not. Come here, girlie.”

The next thing she knew, Vanessa was hanging like a ragdoll as she was being hauled off by what she could only assume was an older girl that didn’t know how to mind her own business. Not to mention how embarrassing it was – she was sure plenty of students had witnessed the ordeal. She pouted and crossed her arms as she was plopped down onto a bench. “Yo, what the hell was that about?”

“It was about not letting Gryffindor be known as the house that let a first year try out without training the right way,” the girl tossed her long ponytail off her shoulder and sat beside her. “You kinda remind me of myself, though. I’m Alexis, what’s your name?”

After a few moments of silent defiance, Vanessa looked up at her. “Vanessa,” she sighed and looked back down. “I just wanna be part of all that. I been into quidditch since I was four on my brother’s hand-me-down training broom.”

Alexis gave a sympathetic nod and wrapped her arm around the first year. “I get it, gotta follow your passion and stuff. But let’s do this thing right, yeah? Normally the quidditch mentorship program don’t start til your second year, but I think we can get an early start. What do you think?”

Vanessa perked right up as she nodded with a reinvigorated smile. “Yeah!”

And Vanessa did try her best to be a good student. When she wasn’t just trying to show off, she actually followed Alexis’ instructions. As stubborn as she was, she was starting to find she was improving under her supervision. That, and having an older and wiser friend made surviving a new school easier. She could still present herself as being wholly independent and capable, while knowing there was someone that she could go to with all of her problems.

Being back home felt lonely in comparison, leading Vanessa to immerse herself in quidditch training. She was determined to blow everyone away when her chance in the pitch finally came. She’d make Alexis, her family, and all of Gryffindor proud. And maybe she would rub it in the faces of everyone who talked about her behind her back – she wasn’t blind or immune to the gossip, but no one would see her sweat if she had anything to say about it.

By the time the summer ended, Vanessa deemed herself ready to tackle her second year headfirst. She signed up for the mentorship program with Alexis, making it official, and their first scheduled training session soon followed. She even spotted familiar faces on the field – Yvie and A’keria – another girl in her year that she had developed a friendship with.

On the other side of the field, she noticed a Slytherin girl looking at her funny. Naturally, Vanessa was ready to march over and share some choice words with her until Alexis gave her a warning glare. _Later,_ she thought to herself. She’d remember that face.

A few months later, the try-outs went by house and by random draw, Slytherin was up first. Vanessa watched intently, specifically looking for that blonde girl – who she could finally put a name to – Brooke Lynn Hytes. Duly noted. And she was _good,_ much to Vanessa’s chagrin. Though it gave her a new goal as she waited her turn – be better than _her._

And when all was said and done, she liked to believe that was what she did. She saw Alexis beaming with pride and the other Gryffindor hopefuls looking impressed. Perfect.

“Wow, Vanessa, you looked incredible out there!” A third-year boy told her. “I mean, you look incredible now, too, uh…I—”

“Thanks,” Vanessa walked past him as if she hadn’t paid the slightest bit of attention, causing a confused Alexis to jog until she caught up to her.

“Girl, what the hell was that? That boy was totally flirting with you!”

Vanessa shrugged and kept walking. “Sounds like his problem.”

Alexis froze with a puzzled expression before shrugging it off with an equal amount of nonchalance and following her protégé back into the building. No point in ruining her momentum with personal questions, she decided.

Besides, none of that mattered when Vanessa saw her name on the list. She was a force to be reckoned with and now everyone had to deal with it.

“Looks like your buddy made it, too.”

Vanessa looked over her shoulder and saw Brooke Lynn celebrating with the other Slytherins. “Good, lemme take her on, see who she’s giving the stink eye to after the next game.” Their eyes met for a brief moment and she could feel an instant surge of adrenaline pulse through her, one that made her heart speed up and her jaw clench.

Oh, it was _on._

**Author's Note:**

> Give us some love and some good old feedback in the comments, we really appreciate it <3


End file.
